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boffcheck
09-01-2014, 05:14 AM
Hey :08:
I just watched a docu about a very rare Nana called Umq Bir. Have you ever heared about it? I only know that there will be small Fruits like 10cm length and about 3 to 4 cm in diameter. They taste good. Thats it.

Is there anyone with informations about that type?

Greetings form Germany (read it with german slang ;)

crazy banana
09-02-2014, 12:52 AM
Hey :08:
I just watched a docu about a very rare Nana called Umq Bir. Have you ever heared about it? I only know that there will be small Fruits like 10cm length and about 3 to 4 cm in diameter. They taste good. Thats it.

Is there anyone with informations about that type?

Greetings form Germany (read it with german slang ;)

It is supposed to be an ancient variety (AAA triploid) with taste similarities to the Cavendish. It was discovered in an abandoned oasis in Oman in 2003 by a German professor and researcher Dr. Andreas Buerkert.
Him and his team have found it to be significantly more resistant) to a lot of diseases compared to other common known banana varieties like the above mentioned commercially grown Cavendish, especially Panama disease.

boffcheck
09-02-2014, 06:46 AM
Wow ok :) but i guess that one is realy hard to get...

crazy banana
09-03-2014, 12:45 AM
Wow ok :) but i guess that one is realy hard to get...

You bet they are hard to get....
In 2003 Professor Buerkert went on two expeditions in the desert mountains of Oman. The first time he had to realize that the mountain terrain was too steep to get to the oasis and he had to turn around. The second time him and his researcher team received help from an Oman military helicopter who flew them to the abandoned oasis "Wadi Tiwi".
The Oman is known for old trade routes from Africa to the Middle East and Asia. Lots of ancient grains, especially wheat are believed to be preserved there. For the same reason the researchers went on their expedition to find ancient (disease resistant) musa varieties. It seems that they have found it in Musa Umg Bir.

boffcheck
09-03-2014, 01:17 AM
I e-mailed with Prof. Dr. Buerkert. He also told me that he is forbidden to give pups away to avoid genetic piratery. But i also dont allways need whats new ;) but would have been cool :)

crazy banana
09-03-2014, 01:35 AM
I e-mailed with Prof. Dr. Buerkert. He also told me that he is forbidden to give pups away to avoid genetic piratery. But i also dont allways need whats new ;) but would have been cool :)

Makes sense to a certain degree, but at one point I would expect to find TCs on the market as proof of their findings and to justify governmental funding.
I would not mind to try heirloom musa varieties, but for now I am extremely happy with what I am currently growing. A triploid AAA would not really do well in my climate zone anyways.

Richard
09-03-2014, 01:40 AM
I e-mailed with Prof. Dr. Buerkert. He also told me that he is forbidden to give pups away to avoid genetic piratery ...

That is a half-truth. But who can blame him for wanting to avoid the labor of being a cultivar provider to the inquisitive world.

crazy banana
09-03-2014, 01:49 AM
That is a half-truth. But who can blame him for wanting to avoid the labor of being a cultivar provider to the inquisitive world.

I hope you are sarcastic, otherwise it sounds like the pharmaceutical industry: $$$ €€€ !!!

Richard
09-03-2014, 01:59 AM
I hope you are sarcastic


no.

PR-Giants
09-03-2014, 09:59 AM
Abstract


Recent reports have shown a surprising diversity of agricultural crops in Omani oases which was attributed to the country’s traditional role at the crossroads of cultures and trade between the Middle East and Asia. Recent surveys have indicated a relatively small diversity of banana (Musa spp.) germplasm which was thought to reflect the prevailing hyperarid conditions of Oman where this drought-sensitive species can only be cultivated in well-watered oases in the North or in Dhofar, the monsoon-dominated south eastern tip of the Sultanate. Surveys near Umq Bi’r, a half-abandoned oasis in the hardly accessible spring area of Wadi Tiwi, famous with Arabic sailors for its abundant fresh water resources, led to the discovery of a so far undescribed triploid Musa acuminata cultivar surviving in a limestone rock niche. Its morphological traits are different from any of the currently grown banana cultivars. Since acuminata bananas are quite sensitive to drought spells, characteristic for the Arabian Peninsula, the occurrence of this specimen provides further evidence for Oman’s role as a refuge of relict crops imported from a more humid region such as coastal East Africa and nearby islands, or Indonesia.

Richard
09-03-2014, 09:18 PM
Recent reports ...

Ecology and morphological traits of an ancient Musa acuminata cultivar from a mountain oasis of Oman [2009] (http://www.researchgate.net/publication/225974972_Ecology_and_morphological_traits_of_an_ancient_Musa_ac uminata_cultivar_from_a_mountain_oasis_of_Oman/links/02e7e52bbb20b27f51000000)

blownz281
09-04-2014, 06:28 AM
Wish we had pictures.

boffcheck
09-04-2014, 06:44 AM
3sat.online - Mediathek: Die letzte ihrer Art (http://www.3sat.de/mediathek/?mode=play&obj=38880)

here is a vid of the whole story.. it's not in english but you can see the plants...

blownz281
09-04-2014, 03:09 PM
Thanks. Tried it but my computer won't play it.

boffcheck
09-04-2014, 03:19 PM
hm.. im sorry to hear that.. :/

Pancrazio
09-04-2014, 08:45 PM
The most interesting thing of this banana is, to me, the fact that if this plant is so resistant to dessication, maybe it can be stored dormant as some ABB cultivars do. Apparently cold and drought resistance go together, as far as i can see.

blownz281
09-05-2014, 06:05 AM
sweet it worked at my work. So the bananas growing in the greenhouse are the same type they found? They are neat! What about the Micropropagation plants?